AJs vs sticky (1 Viewer)

DrStrange

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Playing $1/$1 live, five handed. The game is coming to an end, mayby 20 hands left. We have reached the point where the winners are coasting and the losers reaching.

Cast of characters:

Hero is playing $325, still catching great cards but not getting paid well. Hero is adjusting for the short table but has no idea how villain adjusts (if at all).

Villain is playing $275. He has been fortunate and made a serious comeback, though squandered hundreds of dollars of value by min raising with monsterous hands. In general, his bet sizing can be really obscure and even silly. He is still down and as loose / sticky as ever. He is a strong believer in "any two cards".

The hand:

Three limps and one fold bring us to Hero in the big blind. Hero holds :ad: :jd:. Hero raises to $10. Everyone folds to villain in the small blind. Villain calls. We are heads up with $22 in the pot.

The flop: :qs: :9c: :7h:

Villain checks. Action on Hero. Should hero bet or check? If betting, how much? What is Hero going to do if he bricks the turn and or river?

DrStrange
 
I c-bet about $15 here. Further action depends on what the brick is. If I get called, and the turn looks like a safe card, I bet $36. if I get called twice, and the river doesn't help, I check behind on the river.
 
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If I can't get a bead on this guy and all I have is Ace high, now that we're down to heads-up I'll keep take the opportunity to check every chance I get. If villain shows strength on the turn, I'm out. If villain bets on the river, I'm out unless I've made the straight.

If an A comes up, then I make make some modest bets, but nothing deep.

In short, I'm not interested in risking helping the villain's stack to grow above mine when I have nothing.
 
$15 bet on the flop.

If I hit the turn, he checks, I'm betting. If I miss and villain checks, I'm betting.
 
Until Villian indicates otherwise I expect we have the best hand, I'm betting $14 on the flop, NO FREE CARDS!
 
I like a check better on this spot. Flop hit Sticky's range harder than Hero's. A bet here won't fold any hands that beat us and the hands that will call us either has us beat or is a draw with lots of combined outs and non-outs bluffs that would put us in a hard position. Plan for the rest of the hand is totally contingent on turn card. Not giving up on AJ yet though...
 
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I c-bet about $15 here. Further action depends on what the brick is. If I get called, and the turn looks like a safe card, I bet $36. if I get called twice, and the river doesn't help, I check behind on the river.

Yup, this. ^^^^
 
*** on to the turn ***

Hero bets $15, villain beats hero to the pot. Two to the turn, $52 in the pot.

Turn < :qs: :9c: :7h: > :2c:

Villain checks, action on Hero. Bet or check? If betting how much?

DrStrange
 
Well that looks like a safe card, but if he beat you into the pot, maybe I reconsider my actions. I still think maybe he has some sort of open ender, like J10 or 10 8. I think I check behind, with a plan of calling if anything other than a 6,8,10,J, or K comes. I still probably call if a J comes.
 
Well that looks like a safe card, but if he beat you into the pot, maybe I reconsider my actions. I still think maybe he has some sort of open ender, like J10 or 10 8. I think I check behind, with a plan of calling if anything other than a 6,8,10,J, or K comes. I still probably call if a J comes.

Yeah, his super quick call looks like TJ to me, or 8T. So now we're at that part where we have to decide:

1. Do we bet, causing him to make a mistake by trying to semi-bluff us with a draw (or calling without correct odds)

2. Or do we check behind, hoping that Villian bluffs into us if he whiffs?


I'm fine with either course, it's really opponent dependent. The super quick call looks like a draw to me though.
 
Hero has relative position and likely the best hand, but I'm checking the flop in this situation since I have no back door flush draw and can under-rep my hand. Also probably checking the turn. As played, villain could just as likely have a 7 or 9 as a draw to beat hero into the pot. I'd rather maintain pot control in this spot since we're either marginally ahead or villain has outflopped us. Betting an A or J for value on the river however. If villain checks river, I'm probably conceding a small pot rather than trying to push a sticky player off it.
 
I check flop - although it's perfectly likely we still have the best hand, our hand is not playing well on this flop, and there are a lot more ways this can end badly than well. If he checks a second time on the turn, I'll toss out the $15. As played, I'm definitely checking behind and hoping for a showdown without further investment.
 
I check flop - although it's perfectly likely we still have the best hand, our hand is not playing well on this flop, and there are a lot more ways this can end badly than well. If he checks a second time on the turn, I'll toss out the $15. As played, I'm definitely checking behind and hoping for a showdown without further investment.

I didn't believe "check" existed in your vocabulary! ;)
 
With no folding equity here, maybe 4s,5s, 6s and a bad 7, we're still behind his flop calling range imo. I'd check back the turn.
 
*** and now the river *** (I'm still traveling, please forgive mistakes)

Hero checks behind. Two players to see the river, $52 in the pot

River: < :qs: :9c: :7h: > :2c: :6h:

Villain bets $5. Now what?

DrStrange
 
$5?? Fuck it I'm calling. It could be a very weak steal attempt or a very small value bet with 10 8. I'm not against folding but 11-1 odds I'm throwing it in.

Im never raising. I can't see us betting him of any hand we don't beat.
 
I'd say call. Something like a low pair K7 or J7 seems likely to me, but there's enough chance it's Ax or KJ that completely missed to make the odds right for Hero.
 
Unless he flashes a card at you that hit the board it's not a fold... line between call or raise is too blurry to make without being there. I'd probably call, flip my cards, say ace high and let him muck if he's beat. At this point in this game with this player we really don't care what he has.
 
The river is much different than other streets - calling to try to hit something is one thing; calling with a weak hand (which I strongly suspect he has) at showdown is another. If we make it $50 here, is he still going to station us with any pair?

If I didn't know, I would take this opportunity to find out. I bet Hero has a pretty good idea though. ;)
 
I've always read these small bets by Villain as an attempt for Hero to raise and hang themselves. It's a play you see a lot online, but sometimes the raise will take it. I think here I'm just calling though.
 
Unless he flashes a card at you that hit the board it's not a fold... line between call or raise is too blurry to make without being there. I'd probably call, flip my cards, say ace high and let him muck if he's beat. At this point in this game with this player we really don't care what he has.

I would call and make Villian show first since he took the last aggressive action. I'm not giving up the opportunity to get info I paid for, or the opportunity to muck my own cards if I'm beat to avoid giving information to Villian and everyone else in the game.
 
I would call and make Villian show first since he took the last aggressive action. I'm not giving up the opportunity to get info I paid for, or the opportunity to muck my own cards if I'm beat to avoid giving information to Villian and everyone else in the game.
This^^
 
I agree with the c-bet on the flop, and the check behind on the turn. The $5 bet on the river isn't ever gonna induce a fold from me, and it's too suspicious to warrant a raise when I've completely missed the board. I'm calling here, and probably losing $5 to a pair of 7s or 9s, or a small pocket pair. If he was drawing or had KT or KJ I make a good profit.
 
*** the sad end of story ***

Hero calls. Villain shows :6d: :3d:.

Hero kept thinking somehow he could have gotten villian to fold somewhere along the way but then thought that plan likley would have cost over $100 and might not have worked even then . . . . .

DrStrange
 
*** the sad end of story ***

Hero calls. Villain shows :6d: :3d:.

Hero kept thinking somehow he could have gotten villian to fold somewhere along the way but then thought that plan likley would have cost over $100 and might not have worked even then . . . . .

DrStrange

Hero checked the turn, if Hero bets, do we get a fold from this Villian? Maybe, or maybe not (since he called the flop bet with no pair or draw...) Now you know you can value-bet the hell out of this Villian and he'll call you with 6-high
 
imo the tiny river bet is usually indicative of a very weak hand, blocking bet. Occasionally a monster hand meant to induce a bet but that's rare and must be from a thinking player. Almost never a bluff. It's either call or raise to try to push villain off hand and dependent on history with villain.
 
Hero has a lot of experience with this villain and knows value town is the place to make money. It was the truly awful nature of villain's hand that stuck in the craw - calling Hero's c-bet with no pair, no draw six high?. {and no multi-street plan to bluff.}

Thing is, the toughest part of this villain's game is his wildly unreadable bluffs. Hero snaps off bluffs from this guy all the time with top pair kinds of hands, but ace high isn't nearly as good a bluff catcher. Every time hero bets he opens the door. Not only is there reason to think villain might call Hero down on the river, but Hero might get bluff-raised by villain and have to carefully decide if ace high is good.

Better to wait for top pair and then take half or more of his stack -=- DrStrange
 
So you're calling $5 into a $52 pot with ace-high against this guy (made sense to me, but still thought we were beat by the river card). At what bet value do you fold without a pair in that spot? And how big a pair does it take?
 

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